Givology - give to learn, learn to give

Hello! My name is RunXian Wang, and I am 15 years old. I am an energetic, cheerful, and enthusiastic girl currently studying at BaiSha (White Sand) Middle School.

When I was born, my sister was already ten years old. My mother tells me that my sister was very happy when I was born, always hugging me or kissing me. Of course, my parents were also very happy, as well as my grandparents. I heard that at the time, our village didn't even have electricity or paved roads, but at the time I didn't know the difference. Later, as I grew older, at about 3 or 4 years old, I would always accompany my mother on trips into the mountains near my village, looking for things like pine branches and pig feed. The people there are all so friendly, making sure to hold my hand so I don't fall, at times carrying me along the steeper paths. At that time, my sister was in elementary school, but since she was still the eldest, she had to work hard.

When our village was finally connected to the power grid, the sight of all the families brightly shining in the dark night background was very cheerful. Some families were able to afford a television, and every night go to their house to watch. We would gather around the television screen and watch until late into the night, when we finally had to go home and sleep. This daily trip continued for a few years until, I was about 7 or 8. At this time, my father finally was able to muster enough money to grit his teeth and buy a television. I still remember clearly my exuberance; I wouldn't have to go to other people's houses to watch TV! Now I could watch whatever channel I wanted, whenever I wanted. For our family, being able to buy a television was pretty good. At the same time, however, I was in first grade. My sister just graduated from middle school, and the question came up of whether or not she would continue to high school, whether or not my parents could afford to send her to high school. In the end, it was decided that my sister would drop out of school and begin working, and I would truly begin my life as a student.

When I began elementary school I was about 7, 8 years old, and from the first day of school I had to live in the dorms. Those days I would hide under the blankets at night, sobbing, because I sorely missed my home and my parents. But there was no way around it; my village was very far from my school. I had to travel through the mountain roads for 3 hours before I would reach the school. Now, since I'm older and taller, the trip takes only about 2 hours, but the road back is steep and difficult. At school, we get steamed buns for breakfast, lettuce soup and rice for lunch and dinner. In a month we would occasionally get some meat dishes, and only till after fifth grade did we begin to get more mixed dishes to eat. We would take a break on Saturday, and come back for late study hall. This trend repeated itself for six years, until my time in elementary school finally came to an end. Over the course of the six years, we all had times of illness, and our parents would rush over from far away to take care of us, which was arduous on their part.

My family doesn't have much money; my parents are both farmers, and labor exhaustively. When I was in elementary school, my grandparents passed away, and our family was reduced to four people. When I graduated from middle school, I received BaiSha Middle School's acceptance letter, so I am now at Bai Sha Middle, leaving for a school so far from my home to chase after knowledge. Because the costs of middle school was more than that of elementary school, and the money that my family makes was simply not enough, my father had to begin working outside. This left my mother alone at home, which worried me; what if mom got sick? Who would take care of her? Now, anyone who got sick could just go to LiJiang city to buy some medicine; before, however, anyone without a severe ailment would have to grit their teeth and ignore it, because there wouldn't be any medicine in LiJiang to sell.

Now, going to LiJiang is pretty normal, and there are people who have gone out of LiJiang to other places, some even going out of the province or country! When I was in elementary school, I went to LiJiang once, and stayed for two days. At the time my sister was working there, and had a break for two days, so she was able to take me around LiJiang. Before then, I had always stayed in the mountains.

During my childhood, I lived in comparatively bitter circumstances: I lived days of corn meal, without electricity, roads, or television. Even if only for a few years, such circumstances are rare. Even now, our village isn't better than other villages; even though there are roads now, they are still just mountainous roads, and are hard to use. Our family has less in comparison to other families, and even though I am a teenager, and should be enjoying my youth and living life to its fullest, I must do farm work every time I go home, such as picking corn or digging potatoes, and carrying them by loads back home, because I must be responsible, and our family doesn't have any savings for me to have any leisure time.

My childhood has contains bitter work and melancholy, and compared to richer families my family doesn't have much, but what keeps me happy and helps me persevere in my goals is that I have parents and a sister who all love me very much.